The Ksar of Aïn-Séfra was erected around the year 1586 by the children of Mohamed Benchaïb, known as Bou Dekhil, patron saint of the city, after the purchase of the land from local tribes against 1000 sheep, according to the tales of oral tradition.

During the first French incursions in the middle of the 19th century, the majority of "Chorfa" families left the ksar as refugees, mainly to Tlemcen and Fez.

Initially, in 1882, a strategic military garrison post consequent to the revolt of Sheikh Bouamama left their bastion of Figuig.

The region where Aïn-Séfra is located was one of the bastions of the popular resistance against the French colonial conquest, south of Oran.

An unusual blizzard hit the area on 20 January 2017, dumping snow in the municipality up to a meter thick in some places.